On Tue, 6 Dec 2011 09:45:43 -0800 (PST), thirty-six
wrote:

Today's cars are less tolerant of under-pessure cooling systems

Possibly

and
are reliant on anti-freeze to aid thermal transfer both in the engine
and radiator.

Wrong. Antifreeze has a lower specific heat capacity than water.

Annual coolant pressure and coolant checks should be
peformed as a matter of course.

Pressure caps rarely fail. Corrosion inhibitors last for many years. A
check every two or three years is enough.

Cambelt(s) should be checked as a
matter of course (unless one is to adopt automatic replacement at 8
years/100,000miles)

Checked for what? If the mileage / age is within limits and it was
fitted right in the first place then they very rarely fail.

and it's probably also a good time to check oil
pressure.

Filtered oil doesn't wear pumps. Even totally knackered oil barely
wears pumps, ****ing about checking the oil pressure is an invasive
procedure that rarely proves anything.

Starter syatem checks should also be performed as a matter
of course.

It cranks and starts in a couple of seconds. The battery voltage is
normal.

End of test


Other systems/parts are generally mileage dependant or
should be noticed and rectified by the driver as and when faults
appear. Headlight bulb efficiency is possibly another check not fully
covered in MOT testing which possibly should be included in an annual
service. I think you are lucky to get good brightness levels much
after 1000 hours of use.

1000 hours at 30mph is 30000 miles, or somewhere around three years
average mileage. I can't recall ever changing a lamp for poor
brightness. I've had headlamp housings that filled with water and the
lamps were still good to use after they had been dried out and cleaned
in some meths.

Iron/copper electrode spark plugs still benefit from dressing every
3000 miles.

Nice sharp edges give a better spark than ones rounded off by wire
brushing or sand blasting. 50,000 miles was possible with very little
deterioration in performance 30 years ago, now it's normal. Removing
spark plugs every 3000 miles risks thread damage to the head too.

and the distributer rotor is still a better system than
double ended coils or split tension systems.

For something tinked with and occasionally driven on a weekend in
summer, or after a nuclear strike then it is usable. For all other
practical purposes distributors are crap. If they were so good then
piston engined aircraft would use them. They don't.

Unfortunately the rotor
and cap do need attention each year due to erosion and corrosion and
probable replacement at three years or 20,000 miles. It still gives a
bigger bang

Bigger bang, wtf does that mean? You get significantly higher energy
in the spark from modern ignition systems.


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